Hawks' Coach Mike Woodson wants his team to begin the 2008-09 campaign with a strong showing in the preseason this month.

"Just win baby," Woodson said with a smile Sunday. "It’s time to play, man. Some people view preseason game as something to get players in shape and get ready for the season."

"To me, it’s huge in terms of using that time to bond and get used to doing things in a winning way. I don’t think you can do it any other way. You have to play to win."

Atlanta was 7-1 in the preseason last year before ending their playoff drought and pushing the Celtics to the limit in the first round.

"Coach believes in doing it this way, and that’s going to be a shock to some of these guys that haven’t gone through training camp with him before," Joe Johnson said. "I’ve been warning Mike [Bibby] about it. I told him to be ready to go, so at least he has a little warning."

Via Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Atlanta Hawks

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